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Lightning at night - Colors of My Island October

Friday, October 3, 2014

Today I have the second installment of my Colors of My Island series. This one is a bit different, it's nail art based on a picture taken by my best friend, Arelis (@originaltemplate), of lightning at night over San Juan.

I chose this because during the hurricane season months of July-November, powerful thunderstorms are the norm in Puerto Rico. It's really the only time you see lightning at night, since the rain that falls the rest of the year tends to be in the afternoon and ceases by evening, caused by hot temperatures and humidity and not by actual storm systems. Also, extremely amateur meteorology is a hobby of mine. I'm fascinated by weather, storms in particular, I've even thought about going back to school for it. The truth is, it's related to my anxiety. I fear the unknown, which triggers the anxiety and panic attacks, hence the more I know, the less I'm anxious.

So, especially during August and September, the sky will light up almost everyday at night with scenes like this. Also...this also works for last week's BHB nails challenge since the theme was "weather".

For my base I used ORLY La Playa. I initially wanted to do this with acrylics. I know my way around them since I've been painting with acrylics for years but I couldn't get the darn bottles open. It's been a while since I painted anything and the tops have dried shut. So I rummaged around in my nail polish stash until I found SOPI Just A Little Dangerous and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On.

I took a little flat brush that I got in a nail art brush set from Walmart and did the best I could. If I were to have painted this on canvas, I would have preferred a round, short bristled brush but I don't have the nail art equivalent. Does anyone know where I can get one?

I decided to be inspired by, instead of attempting a reproduction with limited colors, space, and most importantly, time. I did the whole thing in about 1.5 hours during Squish's naptime. After which I had to feed him, dress him, and go pick up Princess A from school. And as luck would have it, meet with her teacher...with lightning on my nails...yep. I was able to finally take the pictures after the kids where sleeping.

So, what do you think? Should I stick to swatches and simple nail art or should I attempt more miniature paintings? Also, go check out my bestie's Instagram, she's a great photographer and is currently living in Barcelona.

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About

I'm Nadia, a Puerto Rican mom of 2 kids who relocated to Florida and loves her nail polish. I'm a sci-fi and book nerd with an art degree, a husband, and a dog. A love of nail polish helped me overcome a nail biting habit of 22 years. I write about nail polish, nail art, beauty and cosmetics, with a little bit of lifestyle blogging. Contact me at nadia.l.velez@gmail.com.